There are various mechanisms to transmit documents between different locations over a network. For example, a user may send a document as an attachment in an electronic mail to another user. Alternatively, a document can be uploaded or downloaded from one electronic device to another electronic device over a network.
Traditionally, a document is saved as a single, complete and self-contained file, where the single file can be transmitted from one location to another location. Word processor or other types of publishing systems are designed to operate on such isolated and self-contained documents, and such word processor or other publishing systems naturally support a mode of transmission where self-contained documents are transmitted between locations.
To achieve improved efficiency, documents can be designed to be modular, where a modular document is composed of separately identifiable component documents. Conventionally, efficient mechanisms have not been provided to exchange modular documents between locations over a network.